Zoids Aftermath
by Gundamite127
Summary: It is over 30 years since the end of the original Zoids. A new battle league has risen and now a nuclear detonation has turned most of the planet into a wasteland. The battle for survival and control of Zi is on.
1. Prologue

**T****ime: 3:34 P.M.**

**D****ate: July 19, 2330 (25 years after Blitz team made S-class)**

**Location: West Peninsula, Planet Zi, Solar System 275, Milky Way sector 695**

**Event: Final Zoids Battle League Championship**

19-year-old Tsui Craner charged across the battlefield in his specially modified Berserk Fury X-9, weapons blazing. His target was the Stegosaurus-like Gordos piloted by his friend, 18-year-old Gabe Sting.

Tsui's Zoid was a small Tyrannosaurus-like mechanical beast with two triangular drill-blades extended from the sides that, when opened up, contained .95-caliber machine guns. Gabe's Gordos was armed with two 45mm cannon placed at the top of the hip of each leg. It was a very even match- the Gordos was heavily armored and could withstand barrages from most projectile weapons, while the Berserk Fury was fast and lethal at any range and had a small energy shield.

This battle was very important to all involved because the Zoids Battle League had announced that the League would be disbanding and a new battle league would be formed with the Zoids in use being specialized, mass produced Ultra-class Zoids. The winner of this two-team battle-royal would be named Commissioner of the new league.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tsui saw the out-of-commission Zoids belonging to his and Gabe's teammates. There were the Elephanders of 17-year-olds Tobias King and Gad Craner, Tsui's younger brother. To his left, were the Blade Liger belonging to Gabe's 16-year-old brother Matt, and the Pegasus Zoids belonging to Tsui's sister, 18-year-old Tal- a teammate of Gabe's- and Gabe's sister, Becky- also 18 years old.

Quickly, Tsui returned his focus to Gabe, but his threat detector suddenly jumped to life as it picked up Tsui's only teammate still standing, 19-year-old A.J. King, who also piloted a Berserk Fury X-9. Tsui and A.J. had worked out a plan before the match: if they were the last of their team, they would work together to eliminate any opposing Zoids and then face each other- after all, they were the best on the field.

As one, the two friends and teammates charged towards Gabe, finally splitting to attack Gabe at his sides- his most vulnerable spot. With drill-blades in closed position, they struck. They easily annihilated Gabe's weapons, and then drilled into the Zoid's hide and legs- rendering the Zoid useless.

Finally, the two friends turned towards each other. With energy shields activated, neither one could use their machine guns, so they began attacking each other's shields with their drill blades. A.J. had had to use his shields earlier in the fight, so his were weaker than Tsui's. Eventually, Tsui managed to overpower his opponent's shield seconds before his own failed- all the time he needed.

Tsui swung his blades at A.J.'s cockpit, just as his own shields failed. As A.J. had one blade still in motion so they connected with each other's cockpits simultaneously. Tsui's cockpit took serious damage but, due to the fact that he struck with both blades, he incapacitated A.J.'s Zoid.

A horn sounded from a cylindrical object in the center of the battlefield. The robot battlefield judge shouted out, "The winner of the Battle Royal and the title Ultra Zoid Battle League Commissioner is… Tsui Craner!"

The pilots of the Zoids exited their Zoids- at least most of them did. After a few minutes, Tsui hauled himself out of his Zoid, holding his right arm and grimacing in extreme pain- his arm had been shattered by the blow to his cockpit. A.J. was unable to get out of his cockpit, as both his legs had been demolished.

The two would be fitted with high-tech servo-prosthetics that practically mimicked every ability that the real limbs had been capable of. But the two men would never be able to fight at full capacity again.

For eleven years, they would run the Ultra Zoid Battle League (UZBL)- Tsui as Commissioner, and A.J. as Assistant Commissioner and owner of the League's premier Zoid refit garage.

Around March 2331, a group of renegade Zoid warriors, living the ways of the long-disbanded Backdraft group to new extremes, began preying on the Ultra Zoids teams- taking the Zoids of their victims. Three years later, a guard corps was drafted into service to patrol the Ultra Zoid battlefields to keep out the illegal warriors known as the Backstrike.

Still, the Backstrike attacks continued, mostly on the Guard Posts, for seven more years.


	2. Chapter 1: Nuclear Detonation

_**Chapter 1: Nuclear Detonation**_

_**Time: 9:13 A.M.**_

_**Date: January 29, 2341**_

**Location: Zoid Battle League guard outpost #279, West Peninsula**

Jacob Stonesling glanced over his vidscreens for the umpteenth time. Still no disturbance in sight, but that was to be expected. No battles were ever scheduled for Unity Peace Day, the anniversary of the end of the massive global war in 2209. After glancing at his vidscreens again, he looked at his chrono. Finally, it was time to head back to base. Jacob turned his control yoke to turn his nuclear-powered Spinosnapper Zoid around to head back. He was so absorbed in getting home that he did not, at first, notice that both the underground and aboveground friend-or-foe targeting systems had both detected intruders.

The early warning alarm did not kick in because Jacob had shut it off, believing that no one would be stupid enough to attack on a holiday. Finally, as he finished his turnaround, he caught sight of the aboveground screen to his left and saw a Dark Horn charging at him. The big black robot that looked like a cross between a Rhino and a Triceratops had both of its Gattling guns aimed and ready to fire. Jacob quickly turned towards this threat.

Jacob's specially made Spinosnapper was part of a new breed of Nuclear Zoids with extra-thick armor, faster reflexes and agility, and an advanced weapon system that could be out fitted with almost any weapon upgrade. As an Ultra Zoids guard corps Zoid, the Nuclear Spinosnapper was equipped with an energy shield, three chest-mounted machine guns, and weasel-unit eight-missile launchers at the elbows, along with the Zoid's original twin mega-reach giant laser-chain-saw blades.

He knew this battle would be to the finish. If he lost his Zoid might be captured and he might be taken prisoner or even killed. He activated his shield just as the Dark Horn began firing its Gattling guns. The bullets bounced harmlessly off the shield but the Dark Horn kept charging. Jacob realized what it was doing; the gunfire was a way to keep him from getting a target lock while the Dark Horn built up speed to ram into his shield. The shield would not hold up against that and then he'd be fair game. He had to act fast.

Jacob quickly programmed his missiles to auto target on the enemy Zoid, then launched them. Through the rain of bullets, the pilot never saw the sixteen Kitana-Handle Armor-Piercing missiles coming. Every missile hit right on the neck of the Zoid, snapping off the head.

Jacob walked his Zoid over to the wreckage of the Backstrike Dark Horn. He trained his weapons on the cockpit to make sure the pilot didn't pull a fast one by jumping out with an Anti-Zoid weapon and trying to knock him out. He was so focused on the fallen Dark Horn that he forgot one crucial fact about the Backstrike: they never attacked alone.

By the time he finally noticed the underground threat detector signal it was too late. Even a Nuclear-class Spinosapper wasn't fast enough to dodge a full-speed War Shark with weapons blazing. Out of the ground beneath him, Jacob was struck with torp-bullets and Gold Disc concussion rockets from the War Shark's four torpedo-machine-guns and rocket launchers. His Spinosnapper managed to dodge away just as the War Shark leaped out of the ground under where he was standing. He quickly swung around to face this new threat.

As soon as his target was in sight, Jacob began blazing away with his machine guns. The War Shark tried to avoid the bullets by diving back into the ground, but Jacob now had a fix on it. His depleted uranium bullets tore through the ground and hit the War Shark, but the ground had slowed them down enough that they did very little damage.

Jacob's guns were starting to run low on ammo, so he decided to use his Zoid's secret weapon. Making sure to keep a fix on the War Shark, Jacob flipped a hidden switch. From the chest of his Spinosapper flew two grappling snare lines, each with a large titanium-steel claw at the end. The claws and snare lines were strong enough to lift a fully loaded Gordos. The claws latched onto the turning War Shark, one on the cockpit and one on the tail. _Perfect timing_ thought Jacob as he began reeling in the War Shark.

Jacob had been so focused on catching the War Shark that he never realized that a target detonator had been placed on the main armor unit over his powercore. These nasty things required only a single hit to detonate an implosion that could punch a hole through twenty miles of bedrock.

Once Jacob had pulled the War Shark into range, he swung his two laser-chain-saws and cut the War Shark into three pieces. Quickly twitching his controls, Jacob launched the two pieces he held through the air. They landed twenty feet away, in a crash that the pilot certainly could not have survived.

Meanwhile, the pilot of the downed Dark Horn had finally managed to extricate himself from his destroyed Zoid. In his hand, he held a simple single-action semi-automatic handgun. He took aim at the target detonator just as Jacob realized that the pilot was standing there. Jacob spun to try and cut down the pilot, but was too late. In the spilt second it took for the bullet to leave the gun, travel through the air, and connect with the target detonator, Jacob saw that the pilot was a robot. Belatedly, he realized that expendable robots controlled both attacking Zoids.

The Backstrike had never planned to capture his Zoid. They had come to destroy it.

Jacob, during his spin back towards the robot, had managed to fire five bullets. Two hit the robot and ripped it apart, but Jacob never realized that because an instant before they hit, the handgun bullet hit the target detonator.

An explosive force with the strength of a small atomic bomb, concentrated into a beam of destruction the size of a pencil, ripped through the Zoid's atomic powercore.

A huge nuclear explosion tore through the Zoid, ripping it into individual molecules. Ironically, the recording of the battle that the Spinosapper's memory core had taken was transmitted to the Ultra Zoid guard post HQ as soon as the Zoid sensed the detonation.

The nuclear explosion and its fallout didn't last long. In the matter of seconds that it lasted, however, the blast wiped out most of the planet along with most of its population.

Within a matter of seconds, a simple Zoid battle had annihilated seven-eighths of the population of planet Zi and turned it into a veritable wasteland.


	3. Chapter 2: Awakening from the Holocaust

**Chapter 2: Awakening from the Holocaust**

**Time: 10:00 A.M. (Aftermath +0027)**

**Location: Bunker below UZBL HQ, West Peninsula**

Tsui Craner looked into the computer for the twelfth time since the single-use personnel emergency transporter system had zapped him from his twelfth floor residence into the bunker, and then did a double take. The radiation readings were back down to normal.

With an unnatural calmness- considering the situation- Tsui crossed the bunker's control compound to a radio-com set into one wall. He flicked a switch, and then punched in a code into the keypad that emerged. Picking up the antiquated machine's headset - the newer models couldn't transmit until several hours after a nuclear explosion- with one hand, he adjusted the signal frequency to the all-unit broadcast with the other, then placed the headset on his head and spoke into the mike.

"Attention, all surviving pilots, this is Commissioner Craner. We have experienced the fallout from the destruction of a Nuclear-class guard Zoid's powercore. I need all units to check in with the UZBL HQ so we can get an idea of who's still with us. Then I need all mobile Zoids and transports to start searching their immediate areas for any units still standing, as well as to search for survivors and bodies. Also watch out for Backstrike attacks.

"I am authorizing fatal fire for any attacks, but please use your weapons only for defense. We don't need anyone getting caught in traps. As of now, military codes and laws are in effect. We are at war people! The Backstrike will pay.

"Commissioner out."

**Time: 10:03 A.M. (Aftermath +0030)**

Location: Sector 29, Zone 7, West Peninsula

A solitary Iron Kong walked across the landscape of what had once been the industrial city of Bright Parks. Now there was only desert, fire, and debris as far as the eyes could see. Inside the cockpit of Iron Kong U111, pilot Col. David Right shook his head with remorse. So much destruction from so few units. This would never have happened in the military and the Zoid Battle League that he had known.

_They should have listened to us,_ he thought. _They should have never built those dammed Nuke Zoids!_ David had been among a small group of UZBL members that had opposed the building of the Nuclear Zoids as being to risky, vulnerable, and dangerous. Among the group's arguments had been the fact that the powercore had been too lightly armored to be sufficiently protected. The designers had said that any more armor would have severely hampered the Zoid's capabilities. The point of the Nuclear Zoids, the designers pointed out, was that they would be faster and more capable than regular Zoids- so the extra armor would have made the point of building the Nuclear Zoids moot.

_So, why build them at all?_ David had countered. _After all, what good is a more capable Zoid if it is more vulnerable than a regular one?_ The designers had finally ended the argument by winning approval from the Commissioner's office to build the new breed of Zoids. And that had appeared to be the end of it.

_Until now, that is._

David had never really let the issue go. _Strength, Capability, and Safety_ had always been his motto, a conviction that had helped him through many years in the Service and in the UZBL- including his team's winning of the 2335 UZBL Championship.

Now it had finally come to pass. The disaster he had been predicting. The blast had knocked out a lot of communications. He had tried reaching the other two members of his team- his brother-in-law Lt. Alex Allen and his wife Maj. Cindy Allen-Right- but so far had received only static. His team's base of operations had been located five miles outside Bright Parks and he didn't think it was still standing.

Following the Commissioner's orders as well as his own fears, David turned his Iron Kong in the direction of his team base. After one mile he could see the smoke rising from the destroyed building. After three, he could see the pile of smoldering rubble that was all that was left of his home.

After five, he could see two severely battered and disabled Iron Kongs- steam rising from their battered, dented, and partially melted armor.

His stomach dropped about to his Kong's ankles. Then his military detachment kicked in and his eyes began noticing minor details. The Kongs were in the service bay. It looked like they had been undergoing an ammunition refit. The Shock Rock missiles normally stocked in the Kong's launchers were apparently being swapped out for the more powerful, just-bought Tornadoes and the rocket bomb launchers were being restocked with high-frag Spider Webs.

As he neared the base, a humanoid form limped out. It leveled a Anti-Zoid Bazooka at the Kong. Right's hands automatically flew to his weapon triggers, but stopped. He recognized that shock of spiky, blonde hair. His right hand instead flipped his speaker switch.

"Alex, it's David."

The figure on the ground blinked, then lowered the weapon and slumped to the ground, hands on his head. Not good. David knew that his brother-in-law was a normally cheerful type. Only a real crisis could have worn him down enough. This explosion would normally qualify but Alex should have been able to recognize his Kong. A thought hit him.

"Oh please, no." he whispered.

He was about to open the cockpit and go to his obviously rattled brother-in-law and, hopefully, his wife, when a new figure appeared from behind a pile of wreckage. The Iron Kong Yeti was unknown to him. Before David could do anything, a man walked out of that same pile and aimed a plasma rifle at Alex, who had swung around to bring the Bazzoka to bear on the Kong Yeti. The figure's trigger finger was just a little faster than Alex's and the plasma bolt flashed across the distance at the speed of sound.

David screamed "_NO!_" as Alex dropped like a marionette cut from its strings. His fingers flew to his weapons. Missiles and rockets flew at the Kong Yeti as his Kong's shoulder-mounted Gatling riddled the shooter with hyper-velocity depleted-uranium slugs. The large slugs quickly reduced the figure to organic pulp. The enemy Kong was battered by the barrage of explosives but managed to survive. As David brought his Gatling up to riddle the Kong, a large Hovercargo pulled out of the rubble, load pallet full of ordanance.

His military discipline still in control, David fired a one-minute burst into the head of the Kong, nearly decapitating the Zoid. As the enemy Zoid dropped like a ton of bricks, David turned his attention to the escaping Hovercargo. Adjusting his aim to avoid hitting the ordinance, David shattered the Hovercargo's cockpit with his bullets, bringing the thing to a screeching halt.

No longer wasting any time, David popped the cockpit and jumped onto the zip line to the ground- grabbing the combat rifle he kept in the cockpit as he went. As he ran to Alex, David noticed that the area was littered with disabled Zoids and bodies. Incredibly, it looked like the attack on the base had begun _prior_ to the nuclear explosion! The only thing that had stopped the attackers was, ironically, the explosion itself.

David reached Alex and put everything out of his mind. Alex looked up at him and whispered, "Hurts."

"Hang in there, soldier." The plasma bolt had cauterized the wound but a fist-sized hole had been blown in his lower right torso near the hip.

"Well, looks like you won't have to worry about an appendectomy in the future." David joked trying to ease Alex's pain. The wound would require extensive reconstructive surgery and a transplant.

"Cindy…" Alex wheezed.

"Where is she?" David asked, dreading the answer.

"Don't know… she… was in the… kitchen when we were… attacked. Then the… explosion hit and I…"

"Shh, just rest." David wanted to go look for his wife but he had to get Alex taken care of first. He pulled out his field medpac and went about stabilizing his best friend. Once he had injected morphine, packed the wound and started an IV, he got up.

"I'm gonna go look for her."

Alex looked up with quickly clouding eyes and nodded, then fell asleep.

…

David found her five minutes later. His beautiful Cindy had been nearly cut in half by a plasma blast.


End file.
